How to deal with repeated court proceedings
20 October 2022
The Birketts Family Team is often consulted by clients who have been involved in repeated court proceedings about the arrangements for their children, and (sadly) find themselves once more at what seems like an impasse in co-parenting. New proceedings may already have been issued or the nature of the proceedings may have led the court to direct that a guardian is appointed to separately represent the children.
This is never a positive situation for the adults and the children. Clients are often worn down and feel like they will never be able to live a ‘normal life’ and the children may have been the subject of proceedings for a large proportion of their lives. It is important to take a fresh look at things at this point, to try and break the cycle.
Research shows that arrangements agreed by parents, rather than imposed by the court tend to be more successful and enduring. Even when there has been repeated litigation it is important to consider whether or not court is the right forum to resolve long standing issues. Even if proceedings have been issued, this does not prevent other strategies being attempted alongside/within the court process.
Our Family Team may suggest instructing an independent social worker to work with clients, the other parent and the children to try and find a way forward. Independent social workers have more time to spend getting to know the family than social workers who work for Cafcass do. This may sound like an expensive option, but if it resolves long standing issues and prevents further litigation it may be more cost effective.
The involvement of other professionals, such as a systemic family therapist may be helpful to resolve what are actually relationship problems within the family (rather than legal problems). An adversarial court process is unlikely to improve these relationships.
Sometimes communication may have completely broken down between the parents. Our team works with clients to try and improve co-parenting, and may suggest courses to attend to help clients and the other parent to try and see the perspectives of the other family members. It may be that a channel needs to be established for communicating about the child arrangements only, and all other forms of communication should be paused. There are specific apps developed, such as My Family Wizard, to be used in this situation. Messages sent within these apps may be checked for tone, and messages once sent cannot be deleted. They can be accessed by representatives of the parents if needs be within court proceedings. This can help improve communications and stop a cycle of toxic exchanges.
Members of our team adhere to the Resolution Code of Conduct. Even when a parent has negative and entrenched views about the other parent, it is important that as their lawyer there is a commitment to ensure that the tone and content of correspondence is modulated, non-confrontational and constructive. The focus of all of the adults involved should be on what is in the best interests of the children.
There is a correlation between repeated proceedings, domestic abuse and behaviours designed to prevent the other parent having a relationship with a child. This is something our Family Team is very aware of, and will manage the proceedings accordingly.
There is legislation in place that a court may use to make it harder for a person to participate in an endless cycle of litigation. S 91(14) of the Children Act 1989 is a section invoked by the court to put in place an additional filter to control the issue of repeated court proceedings that are without merit. In practical terms, this means that the court office will not issue an application until the merits of the application have been considered by a judge. This judge will often be the judge who has adjudicated precious proceedings. The bar to be fulfilled to invoke this section has recently been lowered.
If you find yourself considering issuing repeat court proceedings, or are the respondent in proceedings issued by the other parent, contact our Family Team. We will work with you to try and find a more permanent resolution.
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Rachel Frost-Smith
Services
The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at October 2022.